NA TURE 



245 



THURSDAY, JULY 20, 1876 



THE ' UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER 1 

 II. 



WE have already discussed in last week's Nature 

 the present position of the higher education of 

 this country, and we shall now endeavour to point out 

 in what respect this is deficient, and in what way this 

 deficiency may best be remedied. 



One of the most important replies called forth by the 

 pamphlet of the Senate of Owens College is that by Prof. 

 Huxley, and this is alluded to in the following terms in a 

 second pamphlet drawn up by members of the Senate : — 



"Prof. Huxley, while holding that the increase of 

 universities — in the proper sense of the term — is in itself 

 desirable, questions whether the granting of degrees is 

 essential to the character of a university. With the true 

 honour and highest functions of a university, associated, 

 as these are, not with its ordinary but with its choice 

 products — with the flower of its students as they prove 

 themselves in university and in the general national life — 

 the power of granting degrees and the number of degrees 

 granted are indeed not essentially concerned. But it can 

 at the same time hardly be denied that examinations, and 

 the preparation for examinations, are the proper channels 

 through which the influence of teaching is brought home 

 to the great bulk of students at any university, and that 

 without examinations the efficiency of its teaching cannot 

 be tested in reference to its average pupils. It is for this 

 reason that the degree-granting power, in Dr. Carpenter's 

 words, * is usually held in this country to be the essential 

 attribute of a university,' The degree is the outward sign 

 of a standard reached ; this test the public has a claim to 

 demand, more especially in fields of study to which no 

 other practical test is applicable under ordinary circum- 

 stances, and this test it will continue to demand till 

 brands go out of fashion, and till the public is composed 

 of competent independent appraisers of proved merit." 



These words embody a powerful argument in favour of 

 keeping to our present system. When a man styles him- 

 self M.A. of Cambridge, for instance, this denotes unques- 

 tionably a certain intellectual training and acquirement, 

 but it implies also a certain moral, social, and even 

 physical training. It implies that during his residence 

 at Cambridge his character was such as to satisfy the 

 college authorities, while his social capacities must have 

 been developed by the numerous influences of under- 

 graduate life. The public has surely a right to demand 

 this outward sign of a standard reached in the case of 

 such a man — we may therefore take it for granted that in 

 the future of this country the degree-granting power will 

 be retained by the higher educational institutions. This 

 preliminary question being settled in this way we must 

 next ask whether the present degree-giving bodies of this 

 country are, as they stand now, doing enough for our 

 higher education, and if not, whether they can be made 

 to do so by a legitimate extension of their present powers ; 

 for clearly if bodies now in existence can be made suffi- 

 cient for all the purposes of a higher education it would 

 be impolitic and unnecessary to call a new institution into 

 existence. 



Now we think it cannot be denied that the present 

 number of graduates turned annually out by the Universi- 

 ties of Oxford and Cambridge bears but a small proportion 



» Continued from p. 226. 



Vol. XIV.— No. 351 



to the whole population of England ; nor will this be 

 greatly modified by adding thereto the yearly result of 

 the University of London — England will still be found 

 deficient in comparison with other countries. One reason 

 for this arises from locality, for even in these days of easy 

 locomotion the element of locality retains an influence ; 

 and we believe it has been found that the two English 

 Universities draw the greatest relative proportion of 

 pupils from counties in their immediate neighbour- 

 hoods, and the same may be said of the University of 

 London. Nor is this to be wondered at, for the connec- 

 tion between a student and his University does not cease 

 when he gets his degree. He only then truly begins to 

 form a part of the institution and to take an interest in 

 its proceedings, and he will on this, as well as on other 

 grounds, attach himself, if possible, to a University in his 

 immediate neighbourhood. At present, therefore, the 

 whole north of England may be said to be without a 

 University. Again, it may be taken for granted that the 

 large and influential class of men residing in the great 

 cities of the north of England who have become wealthy 

 through the industries of the country, do not consider 

 that their sons have at present sufficient facilities for a 

 higher education. They wish their sons to be graduates 

 of a University and to retain a connection with it in after 

 life ; nevertheless, it is only a few of them that are dis- 

 posed to take advantage of the old English Universities. 

 They probably feel that the social training at these Uni- 

 versities, with all its excellence, is hardly such as to fit 

 the majority of its graduates for success in industrial 

 occupations ; and, on the other hand, they know that 

 their scientific training is very much below the mark. 

 As a matter of fact, therefore, a number of men, forming 

 a very important section of the community, do not avail 

 themselves of these old institutions, nor will they be per- 

 suaded to do so. They want a more suitable kind of 

 education for their sons. Such an education is furnished 

 by the various provincial colleges which are rapidly spring- 

 ing up, and of which Owens CoUege is the oldest and best 

 known representative — but none of these institutions have 

 the power of granting degrees. 



We must therefore conclude that sufficient facilities are 

 not afforded to the inhabitants of the north of England 

 in respect of the higher education, and this is especially 

 felt by comparison with the manufacturing districts of 

 Scotland as represented by Glasgow, a city which is the 

 seat of a well-known University with all the privileges 

 of granting degrees. 



As one means of overcoming this deficiency, affiliation 

 with one of the older Universities has been suggested. 

 Regarding this scheme it is only necessary to quote the 

 words of the Owens College pamphlet embodying the 

 views of the Senate, that " where a college has already 

 attained to a life and a character of its own it is impos- 

 sible to accommodate it to institutions of an altogether 

 different historical growth." 



There is yet, however, another alternative. Why, it 

 may be said, should not the University of London be 

 definitely and finally recognised as the degree-giving 

 body for all the provincial colleges .? The great objection 

 to this arrangement is its inconsistency with the true 

 theory of a University, and besides as a matter of fact it 

 does not work well at the present moment. 



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